Swype Beta 3.25 Gestures its way to a Release

Top keyboard replacement Swype released beta version 3.25 yesterday, making good on their promise to bring users the new feature packed version of Swype found on the Nexus S 4G. While the newly released beta includes all the same features, it does not include the sexy Sprint-exclusive skin that most users were hoping to get their fingers on. So exactly what new features does Swype beta 3.25 have? Let’s take a look at what the Swype team has outlined for us:

Send-to-Application – Highlight any text, anywhere, then send it directly to an application with a quick gesture. Currently supported apps are Twitter, Google Maps, and Facebook

Twitter – Swype from the Swype key to T-W to create a new tweet using the highlighted text

Google Maps – Swype from the Swype key to G-M to search Google Maps for the highlighted text

Facebook – Swype from the Swype key to F-B to create a new wall post on Facebook using the highlighted text

Personal Dictionary Management

Take control of Swype’s personal dictionary with the new Personal Dictionary option in Swype Settings. Long-press the Swype key, then tap Options and you’ll see 2 new entries. If you tap “Personal Dictionary” you’ll be able to view, add, remove, and edit words in your custom dictionary. Press the “plus” button to add, “minus” button to remove, and tap any entry in the list to edit. You can also choose “Reset Personal Dictionary” to empty all words from your Swype user dictionary.

Swype Connect

Prior to this release, licensing and device information polling was done entirely through our installation program (SwypeInstaller). This proved both unreliable and tedious for the user. It also left us unable to gather important measurement statistics that could help us improve Swype by learning about how our users are actually interacting with the keyboard day to day. This initial version of Swype Connect features two main components, and lays the groundwork for more innovative, experience-enhancing features in the future.

License Management – In order to keep track of how many installations of Swype there are, and verify that each installation has a valid license that matches the installed version and device, Swype Connect will periodically communicate with our servers and exchange some basic information about the device. This is all done behind the scenes, is guaranteed not to impact your ability to use Swype, and includes no personally identifiable information. Information collected for licensing/activation is not shared with third parties, except when required by law.

Measurement Statistics Collection – The quality of our product is incredibly important to us, and in our ongoing attempts to better understand the user experience you have with Swype, we will begin collecting measurement data to help us identify errors and areas that need improvement. Swype may collect the following measurement data: Speed of text entry, how often words are added/removed from the Personal Dictionary (Note: We do not collect the actual words added/removed, just how often words are added and removed), and language selection. None of the measurements we collect are personally identifiable, and any measurements we collect are done efficiently to minimize transmitted data.

Bug Fixes & Usability Updates

As always, this version of Swype includes numerous improvements over previous versions. You can find a full changelog directly below, but here’s a quick list of some of the major fixes/updates:

Single-tapping a word no longer repositions the cursor to the end of the word
Words added to the dictionary will now retain their capitalization (e.g. Cyanogen instead of cyanogen)

Fixed a bug where dictionaries would sometimes fail to load after a device reboot

Lots of application-specific improvements and fixes!

Now there are a few ways to go about getting the newest Swype beta. First you must uninstall any previous version of Swype, that means if your device came pre-loaded with Swype you’re out of luck unless you root your phone. At this point, if you have already had a previous beta and have the SwypeInstaller, all you have to do is launch the installer and it will update itself – just be sure to choose the “Pre-Release” download for the latest version. Everyone else (those of you without a previous version of Swype), just head on over to the Swype Website to register for your free download of Swype beta and don’t forget to let us know what you think.

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